Tom Waits – Orphans (Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards) (2006) (3-CD)

"What's Orphans? I don't know. Orphans is a dead end kid driving a coffin with big tires across the Ohio River wearing welding goggles and a wife beater with a lit firecracker in his ear." (Tom Waits).

A 54 song masterpiece is what I call this new Tom Waits 3 CD rumble. A phalanx of songs from every period of life and every genre of American music. He has separated these 3 CD's into a concise set of marvelously named originals called 'Orphans"- 'Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards'. His wife Kathleen collaborated with Tom, and they have done his fine whiskey voice justice.

Brawler, disc one, was my least favorite, but I have listened 4 times and this set has grown close to my heart. The 16 songs on this disc are a mix of juke box, Muddy Waters blues and honky tonk, clangy tunes. 'Sea of Love' is done with a clever twist.

'Bawlers', disc two, is my favorite full of ballads of gone wrong. 20 songs a mixture of saloon songs , Celtic songs and torch songs. 'Tell It To Me' is a country song full of yearning and the rest of the group is as lovely and sad as you would want. They all give a message of the end of the road and hope is strong.

'Bastards' is an amalgamation of songs that don't fit elsewhere. 20 songs, some experimental, from Army Ants to King Kong and a poem by Bukowski. Tom Waits has some strange stories to tell on disc 3- 'night, night'. This is the perfect ending to a three series set that frames the art written and sung by Tom Waits.

Tom Waits was named as one of VH-1's Most Influential Artists of All Time, and it is no surprise that Waits' body of work has long been covered by other musicians. "There is also a long list of artists who have cited Waits as an inspiration, including Bob Dylan who named Tom as one of his "secret heroes". Boston Phoenix As Tom Wait said in an interview "The center of this record is my voice. I try my best to chug, stomp, weep, whisper, moan, wheeze, scat, blurt, rage, whine, and seduce. With my voice, I can sound like a girl, the boogieman, a Theremin, a cherry bomb, a clown, a doctor, a murderer…I can be tribal. Ironic. Or disturbed. My voice is really my instrument". And Tom Waits has given us his best instrument wrapped up in gold. A truly special series of songs for all of us Tom Waits fans. Bravo !!!!!!!!!!!

Personnel Includes:

Tom Waits – vocals, guitar, pump organ, keyboards, percussion

Adam Lane – bass
Andrew Borger – percussion
Anges Amar – whistles
Ara Anderson – trumpet
Arno Hecht – saxophone
Art Hillery – piano
Bart Hopkins – bamboo clarinet
Bebe Risenfors – clarinet
Bent Clausen – banjo, piano
Billy Higgins – drums
Bob Funk – trombone
Bobby Baloo – cowbells, boulders
Bobby Black – steel guitar
Brain – percussion
Brett Gurewitz – guitar
Carla Kihlstedt – violin
Casey Waits – drums
Charlie Musselwhite – harmonica
Chris Grady – trumpet
Colin Stetson – saxophone
Crispin Cioe – saxophone
Dan Cantrell – accordion
Dan Plonsey – clarinet
Darrel Devore – circular violin
Dave Alvin – guitar
Eddie Davis – banjo
Eric Perney – bass
Francis Thumm – piano
Gary Knowlton – keyboards
Gino Robair – percussion
Greg Cohen – bass
Guy Klucevsek – accordion
Harry Codyc – banjo
Jeff Sloan – percussion
Jimmy Cleveland – trombone
Joe Gore – guitar
John Hammond – harmonica
Larry LaLonde – guitar
Larry Taylor – bass
Leroy Vinnegar – bass
Les Claypool – bass
Marc Ribot – guitar
Mark Linkous – guitar, bass, drums
Matt Brubeck – bass
Matthew Sperry – bass
Michael Blair – drums, percussion
Mike Knowlton – guitar
Mike Silverman – bass
Mitchell Froom – chamberlin[16]
Nic Phelps – horns
Nolan Smith – trumpet
Paul "Hollywood" Litteral – trumpet
Ralph Carney – saxophone
Ray Armando – percussion
Richard Waters – waterphone
Ron Hacker – guitar
Seth Ford-Young – bass
Stephen Hodges – percussion
Steve Foreman – percussion
Steve Prutsman – piano
Sullivan Waits – guitar
Tom Nunn – The Bug
Tom Yoder – trombone
Trevor Horn – bass

Tracklists:

CD1-Brawlers:

01. Lie to me
02. Lowdown
03. 2:19
04. Fish In The Jailhouse
05. Bottom of the world
06. Lucinda
07. Ain't goin' down to the well
08. Lord I've been changed
09. Puttin' On The Dog
10. Road To Peace
11. All The Time
12. The Return Of Jackie And Judy
13. Walk away
14. Sea Of Love
15. Buzz Fledderjohn
16. Rains On Me

CD2-Bawlers:

01. Bend Down The Branches
02. You can never hold back spring
03. Long way home
04. Widow's Grove
05. Little Drop Of Poison
06. Shiny Things
07. World Keeps Turning
08. Tell It To Me
09. Never Let Go
10. Fannin street
11. Little Man
12. It's Over
13. If I Have To Go
14. Goodnight Irene
15. The Fall Of Troy
16. Take Care Of All My Children
17. Down There By The Train
18. Danny Says
19. Jayne's Blue Wish
20. Young At Heart

CD3-Bastards:

01. What Keeps Mankind Alive
02. Childrens Story
03. Heigh Ho
04. Army Ants
05. Books Of Moses
06. Bone Chain
07. Two Sisters
08. First Kiss
09. Dog door
10. Redrum
11. Nirvana
12. Home I'll Never Be
13. Poor Little Lamb
14. Altar boy
15. The pontiac
16. Spidey's Wild Ride
17. King Kong
18. On The Road

For recording locations, dates etc. see booklet

Sound Quality: 8/9